Uncanny UK editor RICHARD HOLLAND delves into the dark recesses of his memory to present a true tale of an unusual but rather charming little ghost.
About 25 years ago I was on a coach travelling down to Somerset when the subject turned to that of ghosts (as it so often does). One of my fellow passengers announced he had a ghost in his house, and a rather unusual one. Unfortunately, because it was so long ago and I was unable to take notes, I cannot tell you the location of this man’s haunted flat nor even his name, though I believe it was Nigel, so that is what I will call him.
‘Nigel’ told us he had recently moved into a rented cottage which had formerly belonged to an elderly lady who had since passed on. One peculiarity of his new residence became apparent the day after he moved in: in the morning several of the neighbourhood’s cats appeared at his back door and sat there in an expectant manner. Taking the hint, Nigel fetched a couple of saucers, placed them on the step and poured a little milk into them. His new friends lapped it up with enthusiasm. It seemed apparent that the lady who had previously lived in the house had made this a ritual and the cats fully expected Nigel to continue the tradition. He was happy to oblige.
Later in the week, however, Nigel happened to place the saucers just inside the back door rather than on the step. The cats, despite their obvious desire for the milk, made no attempt to come into the house, indeed they seemed positively afraid to do so. Nigel tried to tempt them in, but they remained outside, mewing plaintively. At last, he put the saucers down in their accustomed place on the step and they tucked in. Shortly, Nigel was to discover the reason for their reluctance.
‘I’d been there about a fortnight,’ he said, ‘when I began to glimpse a cat out of the corner of my eye. A black one. At first I thought I was imagining it, then I began to think that perhaps a cat had got in, although I couldn’t work out where it was slinking off to. Anyway, I couldn’t find it.
‘At last the truth dawned on me. One evening I was sitting watching telly when in came the cat. It padded across the floor, completely at home it seemed, and I remember thinking something like, Ah there you are – I wasn’t imagining you, after all. It crept up to my outstretched feet, and I thought it was going to nuzzle up to them – but it walked straight through them! I jumped up like a jack-in-the-box and the cat vanished.’
Nigel’s house was haunted by a phantom pussycat and the mortal moggies were perhaps not only aware of it but unwilling to intrude on its domain. As Nigel got used to his ghostly guest he found that it would not only show itself more often but also seem more real.
Compared to ghost dogs, ghost cats are a scarcity, which seems strange, considering cats have also been favoured pets of mankind for years without number. Even when we disregard the uncanny Black Dogs and spectral hunting hounds of ghost-lore, apparitions of ordinary canines and pet pooches of the past are reported far more frequently than those of felines. Perhaps ghostly cats keep themselves aloof, as they tend to do in life.
please could you tell me more about this cat as i had a ginger tom called marmalade for nearly twenty years, he died from a brain tuma… & sometimes i think i see him through the corner of my eye & even sure i’ve herd him meow…. also do you have a photo of the ghost or have you tried taking one. would like to hear more on this…. please contact me at….. tonyfreeman@gmail.com thank you.
Unfortunately, Tony, I don’t know anything more about this story other than what my hazy memory has recalled.
That’s really interesting! I often used to see a small black cat in a house I used to live in, always out of the corner of my eye but when I turned to get a proper look it would be gone. For a while I did wonder if I was going a bit potty because no other family members could see it. However one afternoon a neighbour stopped to chat as I was coming home, and during the conversation asked about my “pretty little black cat”, I explained I didn’t have one, but she was quite adamant, saying, ‘but I’ve seen it loads of times – it was sitting on the window ledge a few minutes ago’.
when i was younger i used to be terrified of this black cat that strolled around my bedroom. it was much bigger than the size of a normal cat, probably closer to the height of a rottweiler, maybe slightly taller. You could only see it when the room was pitch black. If i looked at my bedroom floor I’d be able to see it wondering, usually circling around the floor. If I looked at it for too long, the cat would stare at me and start to walk towards me, at that point I’d turn away and hide under my covers for a while. The next time i looked, it would be circling my bedroom again. It was never in anyone elses room and no other member of my family saw it. my mum used to tell me it was my mind making shapes in the dark from all the toys on the floor. The other things i saw never moved so i knew it was just my stuff, when i tidied my room, they left. But the black cat didn’t, it would continue to do the same thing. The previous owners of the house owned a black cat that used to practically live in my room. my mother had to clean the corners of my room before I could sleep in it, because that’s where the cat used to go to the toilet. the cat also kept coming back to this house because the owners didn’t keep it in. I remember my mum telling me that it could be the ghost of that cat… but I don’t see why it’s so big.
My cat Maxine comes back to visit every now and again. Shortly after she had been put to sleep my office door opened sharply at 1.15pm – lunchtime. Max always came to fetch me at that time. Meanwhile, downstairs, my mother (who was visiting) was preparing lunch in the kitchen, turned around and saw a small black cat in the kitchen doorway – at the very same moment that my door opened.
A few months back I distinctly heard Max “chirrup” as I started to go upstairs and I could hear her paw steps on the stairs behind me. I went to bed smiling.
Phantom Cat, South Devon, UK.
Back in the late 90′s, my then managing director casually mentioned a phantom black moggie that shared the house he rented with his new partner (after having separated from his wife).
He had three cats of his own, and initially assumed they had an interloper gaining access through the cat flap. However, both him and his partner saw the black cat when the cat flap was locked shut and all other external exits closed. A subsequent thorough search of the house drew a blank. The phantom moggie put in several more appearances, being seen walking into rooms, whereupon investigation it was found to have vanished into thin air.
Anyway, it was an interesting anecdote, especially as the lane that runs past the somewhat isolated house is reputably haunted; not least a 1994 nocturnal sighting by a work colleague of a ‘glowing figure’ that suddenly vanished. The witness was ex-Army, and not easily ruffled, but he was most perturbed by this incident.
However, some time later, and quite by chance, I discovered that the mother of a friend’s new girlfriend had, some years previously, rented this same property for several years. Before I even had the chance to ask, I was informed that she and her daughter had shared the property with a phantom black cat!
Very interesting, thanks Paul!